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The Magnificent Seven

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 193: The Magnificent Seven

Netanyahu Reopens Door to Palestinian State

March 19, 2015 · 1:47 pm ET · 90 Comments

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “walked back his pre-election declaration that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch, and said he had not been trying to suppress the votes of Arab citizens when he posted a video on Election Day warning that they were heading to polling stations in large numbers,” the New York Times reports.

The Wall Street Journal says Netanyahu withdrew his pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state, saying he only believed the conditions for one “today are not achievable.”

Thomas Friedman: “When the official government of Israel is a far-right party that rejects a two-state solution and employs anti-Arab dog whistles to get elected, it will split the basic unity of the American Jewish community on Israel. How many American Jews want to defend a one-state solution in Washington or on their college campuses?”

U.S. Revisits Unconditional Support of Israel

March 19, 2015 · 1:44 am ET · 67 Comments

“In the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisive re-election, the Obama administration is revisiting longtime assumptions about America’s role as a shield for Israel against international pressure,” Politico reports.

“Angered by Netanyahu’s hard-line platform towards the Palestinians, top Obama officials would not rule out the possibility of a change in American posture at the United Nations, where the U.S. has historically fended off resolutions hostile to Israel.”

New York Times: “In strikingly strong criticism, the White House called Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric, in which he railed against Israeli Arabs because they went out to vote, an attempt to ‘marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens’ and inconsistent with the values that bind Israel and the United States.”

Exit Polls Show Dead Heat in Israel

March 17, 2015 · 4:45 pm ET · 86 Comments

“Exit polls for Israeli elections on Tuesday showed a virtual tie between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main center-left challenger, Isaac Herzog,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Haaretz has the latest exit polling.

Two Reminders About the Israeli Election

March 17, 2015 · 10:33 am ET · 6 Comments

First Read: “One, it could take weeks to determine who is prime minister (victory comes by a party leader cobbling together a governing coalition among all of Israel’s different parties). And two, it’s possible that Netanyahu could lose in the short-term today (coming in second) but still win in the end (by being the one able to form a government). In fact, that’s what happened in 2009.”

Polls close today at 4:00 pm ET.

Netanyahu Pledges No Palestinian State

March 16, 2015 · 2:11 pm ET · 77 Comments

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that “as long as he is the leader, a Palestinian state would not be established, reversing his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Netanyahu made the assertion on the eve of an election in which he is trailing in the polls. He has been campaigning aggressively, appealing to conservatives for support.”

Netanyahu Tells Supporters He May Lose

March 16, 2015 · 7:17 am ET · 22 Comments

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “warned supporters at a rally here Sunday that he and his Likud party may not win Tuesday’s election, a potentially dramatic fall for a consummate political survivor whose nine years in office transformed him into the public face of contemporary Israel,” the Washington Post reports.

“A loss by Netanyahu — or a razor-thin win and the prospect that he would be forced to enter into an unwieldy ‘government of national unity’ with his rivals — would mark a sobering reversal for Israel’s security hawks, in a country where the electorate has been moving steadily rightward for the past 15 years.”

Netanyahu Speech Did Not Help Him At Home

March 8, 2015 · 2:03 pm ET · 64 Comments

A new Jerusalem Post poll finds Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the U.S. Congress did not help his Likud party cut the Zionist Union’s two-seat lead.

If the March 17 election were held now, the Zionist Union would beat the Likud, 24 Knesset seats to 22, the poll found. In last week’s survey, the Zionist Union received 25 seats and Likud 23.

Obama Wants Iran To Halt Nuclear Work for 10 Years

March 2, 2015 · 5:32 pm ET · 14 Comments

President Obama told Reuters that Iran should commit to a verifiable freeze of at least 10 years on its nuclear activity for a landmark atomic deal to be reached, but said the odds were still against sealing a final agreement.

Obama also said that “a rift over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress opposing the Iran deal on Tuesday was a distraction that would not be ‘permanently destructive’ to U.S. Israeli ties. But he said there was a ‘substantial disagreement’ between his administration and the Israeli government over how to achieve their shared goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”